My mom is the smartest person in the whole world

So as we all know I have been having all kinds of problems getting Ian to sleep at night. I put him to bed around 8 or 9 and he spends the next two hours or so destroying things, fighting with his sisters, yelling and so on. Instead of peace and quiet that should come with bedtime I hear doors slamming, the girls screaming at Ian and Ian crying. Then the kids come thundering down the stairs half a dozen times to tattle on each other. The girls complain that Ian won't stay out of their room, Ian complains the girls are being mean to him. Then it quiets down but we have found that Ian gets up in the middle of the night to play (remember the Moon Sand?) or to get food to sneak up to his room. Last night he got into the game closet and this morning when I got up there was Monopoly money, puzzle pieces, Sorry cards and all kinds of other game pieces scattered all over the upstairs. Well I have about had it. I called Mom to vent to her about it. She suggested we make Ian a pallet on the living room floor. That way I can keep an eye on him and he can't get into any trouble. And look!



He has been sound asleep since 9:30. Much earlier than usual. Karl said he had never heard of having to move a child out of his room to sleep in the living room . I agree, I never have either. I certainly know I wouldn't have dared to be pulling all those nighttime shenanigans when I was little. Nor would most children. But like I told Karl this particular child is not typical. It isn't that we let him get away with things, he just doesn't have that worry of getting in trouble that most kids have. So until he gets to that point, we are just going to have to keep a much closer eye on him. And having our bedroom on a separate floor just doesn't allow for that so we are going to have to improvise.

So anyway I am so glad my mom thought of it. She is good for looking at things with a clear perspective when I am too overwhelmed to think. So Mom, if you could now solve our other issues for us that would be great. Specifically, what do you do with a child that does not respond to timeout and leaves a wake of destruction in his path on a daily basis? And once you get done with that, head over to ChaBa's blog. She has some baby powder issues that need to be sorted out. Thanks!